The present disclosure relates to fluid filtration systems and particularly systems of the type employed for filtering fluid flow in commercial water treatment and chemical processing systems. Filtration systems of the aforesaid type typically employ a pressure vessel having a removable filter media element or cartridge which receives contaminated pressurized fluid through an inlet and the filtered flow or filtrate passes through the filter media and outwardly through an outlet.
Fluid filtration systems utilized in commercial processes typically have flow volume in the range of 2 to 1500 gallons per minute or 7.5 to 5680 liters per minute, and operation with fluid pressures at the inlet in the range of 150 psi to 300 psi and may be required to handle fluids at elevated temperatures at the order of 400° F. Filtering vessels and filter media required to handle such fluid flow requirements are relative large and costly to manufacture and must accommodate a broad range of operating fluid requirements.
Filters of this type employed in high volume flow commercial process are critical in the continuous operation of such processes; and, stopping the flow through the filter system for depressurization and removal and replacement of the filter media results in costly downtime and disruption of the processes employing the flow of filtered fluid.
In an effort to reduce or eliminate the down time required for filter cleaning and/or replacement, various techniques have been employed for cleaning the filter element during normal operation without interrupting fluid flow; and have included internal wiping mechanisms for scraping contaminants off of the filter media; and techniques for backwashing the filter which, may require interruption of fluid flow through the inlet. These techniques are performed generally at fixed time intervals based on previous experience and have not provided any way of monitoring in real time, during normal fluid flow operation, the condition of the filter media element or the amount of contaminants accumulated from successive filter cleaning cycles or any way of monitoring the present condition of the wiper.
Thus, it has long been desired to provide a way or means of monitoring the condition of a filter during fluid flow in a continuous large flow fluid filtering system and providing real time indication of the monitored condition of the filter to the system operator. It has further been desired to provide a real time indication of the amount of contaminant accumulated during successive filter cleaning operations and to indicate the accumulated amount to the system operator and the need of appropriate purging; and, it has been desired in such filters to provide a real time indication of the need to perform a cleaning operation on the filter or the need for replacement.